Four Exciting Meets Await Gauchos in April

After their first big weekend of the year, which saw another dismantling of the Gaucho All-Time Top-10 board, the Men's & Women's UCSB Track & Field squads are looking forward to an exciting month of April. Four big meets, four great weekends of Gaucho Track & Field welcome family, fans and friends.

It all begins tomorrow night at UC Irvine for their first major clash against their Big West foes - Cal St. Fullerton, Cal St. Long Beach and UC Irvine. Beginning at 1:00pm with the field events, the Men will be seeking their first Big West Challenge Cup title while the Women will be defending their title for the third year in a row. In their way of bringing the Cups back on the bus to UCSB will be the 49ers of Long Beach St on both the Men's & Women's side. Running events begin at 4:00pm with the 3,000m steeplechases.

Weekend number two of April will take the Gauchos to three different locations. First, Danielle DeBeaubien (Sr.) and Katie Kramer (Jr.) will suit up for their second heptathlon of the year at the California Invitational Multi's in Azusa, CA. Then the middle and long distances will take over the Mt. SAC Invitational on Thursday afternoon beginning at 1:00pm for the Gauchos and will continue through the evening as the longer distances take the spotlight during the night sessions. A majority of Gaucho athletes will then also compete on Friday at the Pomona Invitational as they seek out Big West qualifiers and personal bests.

Friday at Mt. SAC will feature the throwing events in the afternoon followed by the Olympic development 1500m races and the elite 10,000m events. Possible Gauchos competing will be Mike Chavez and Scott McConville at 1500m and Chris Ashley and Megan Lewis in the 10k. On Saturday, possibilities for the Gauchos range from Charlene Heaston in the Hammer Throw and Shot Put, to a red-shirting Tetlo Emmen at 800m, finishing off with a UCSB record breaking attempt by the Women's 4x400m Relay squad. Accepted entries into the prestigious Mt. SAC relays will be posted some time next week.

On April 20th, a contingent of Gaucho athletes will pack their bags for a three-day trip to the University of Oregon for the Oregon Invitational at the prestigious Hayward Field. The meet will serve as an exciting opportunity for the second weekend in a row for the Gauchos to compete against some of the best competition in the country and one more chance at Regional Qualifying marks.

And, finally, the Gauchos will wrap up April with the 3rd Cal Poly SLO-UCSB dual meet. The battle for central coast supremacy will take place Saturday, April 29th in Santa Barbara at Pauley Track. The Gauchos last major scored meet before the Big West Championships, it will provide fans with the hottest Track & Field action of 2006 on the central coast. The Gaucho Women are undefeated against the Mustangs in two meetings while the Men will be seeking out their first title.